I made (another) album! (Featherface)

Hey guys, I don't know if anyone here remembers or saw my post earlier this year, about an EP that I recorded with some friends and called ourselves Featherface,  but you guys were really helpful about it, giving me a ton of good feedback (positive and negative). Well that was just me and two of my best friends recording in a house, hoping to get our stuff out there. Since then we've been super busy playing shows and working on new stuff (other than local shows, we opened for some pretty cool touring bands like Jeremy Messersmith, Elf Power, and Dax Riggs.) 
 
Anyway, we started on a new group of songs over the summer. I seriously spent pretty much every free minute I had, day or night, in a sweaty storage unit in Houston, Texas, writing, recording, and producing a new EP. Yeah, a tiny room with metal walls isn't ideal for audio recording, but we certainly can't afford studio time, and I'm happy with the way everything turned out. 
 
Here:    It Comes Electric, our second EP.
 
Also, with the generous help of my really talented brother and his friend, we just had our website completely redone in an awesome way too, where you can stream the EP as well, and had a little video filmed in the same storage unit.
 
Again, I will be eternally grateful to anyone who gives it a good listen and lets me know what they think. I'm not afraid of negative feedback (unless it's so negative that I backslide into a deep depression and overdose on heroine and ice cream, and that's all on you.), I just don't really want to hear from the people who will listen to 6 seconds and proceed to tell me it sucks. But this is the internet, so I definitely don't have the power to stop you.
 
TL;DR: Made an album, hope you like it, you can download or stream it for free :)
 
 Edit: A few details I didn't mention; we're from Houston, and if I had to choose a genre I'd say experimental/indie rock? And please 'like' us on Facebook if you actually like us!

Bumpzorz

Your band's website, the album art and the "A Youthful Offender" music video look professional. The production of the newest album sounds pretty good to my untrained ear. The singing and playing aren't bad either. I actually liked the songs too -- The "And Your Lying to yourself" interlude works really well for me. The piano-bits, the harmonizing, and the jam parts are really strong, and I wish there were more. The lyrics are kind of weak IMO. Overall, It sounds like you put a lot of work into it.
 
Not much really stands out about it as original, interesting or inspired, however. I could imagine hearing those songs from an above-average local band in a hip bar, but I don't think it has enough "personality" yet to end up big enough to be on Daytrotter, for example. 
 
But that comes with time. I'd just keep doing what you are doing (gigging), and experiment with new things you can incorporate that will help you stand out.   
 
If I were in your shoes I would:  

• Listen for interesting inflections/vocal techniques in songs I listen to. Experiment with things like more emotional deliveries of lines (e.g. Listen to "You didn't write you didn't call; it didn't cross your mind at all" at 5:15 of this; shaking his head into the mic as he hollers the succeeding lyrics creates a powerful effect) and maybe mess around with falsetto. 
  
  
• I'd spend some serious time listening for strong lyrics from other songs and try to consciously "learn" from them. For example, Safe Travels (by Peter and the Wolf, a Texas based band that you've maybe heard of) is lyrically awesome because it's about something original and abstract (not an ex, not a girl, not something I've heard a million times before), it brings up ideas and emotions you don't normally get from other songs and it is universal. Red Hunter (the main guy from PatW) also has a lot of oooohing and aaaaaahing vocals on his album, which is something you may want to mess around with more (I heard some traces of it in the album).
  
  
• Browse ebay for unusual instruments (e.g. African Thumb piano, alto sax, bells, an erhu maybe) or devices that you may be able to incorporate into your songs (that actually might contribute something to the sound of your songs). A brilliant use of a Boss RC-20XL loopstation and a harmonica can be seen in Priscilla Ahn's Dream (see 2:15). At the very least I'd check out using an acoustic-electric guitar once in while to vary things up (I guess you do something like that in Breach, but it's played in an electric style*).
  
  
• I have a theory that if you play one creative cover of a better known influence per set (early in the set is better) in live shows you will develop a fanbase much faster. Not too many artistic bands do this, but it will force people who like the band your covering to open their mind to your original music a little more for the rest of the set. In any situation when people aren't there to see you (e.g. your opening for someone else) the audience is going to be somewhat close minded.

I dig it.  I think you're going in a really cool direction.  I especially like track 3.  Sounds sort of like The Strokes, but a little more indie rock.  I do agree that you could benefit from some keyboards or something.  Also, sometimes, and it's not a super big deal, but sometimes you lose the emotion in your singing.  cnlmullen mentioned that as well, that you could try out some cool vocal stuff and that'd really add to it.  Other than that, it's pretty sweet man.  Keep it up.

Based on the few free songs on the website, i`ll say, that was awesome, thumbs up man.
 
:D

As a musician and recording engineer, I have to say the songs are well preformed and smartly recorded, aside from the vocals being louder than I would mix them probably. 
 
The music cool... not really my thing; I'd probably dig it live.

 I have actually kind of been looking forward to this since your last post. It sounds like you guys are really heavily influenced by Radiohead and classic/post punk, though, to me anyways, I like your sound far more than i like Radioheads' (not much of a radiohead fan to begin with anyways).

 Vocals seem well well done, though I found myself waiting for buildups and then being disappointed when he didn't come through in certain songs but i'm sure you guys will get better with that as you continue to record new songs. The drums were played very well but they sounded too soft in some places, this is probably from the poor recording conditions (small metal room = acoustic nightmare) so considering that i'd say the drums were actually very well recorded. I'm not much of a piano person but they went together with the guitar/bass very well. The lyrics were kind of weak but I've have definitely heard better songs with worse lyrics. I'm no musician or expert, but I'd say you guys have something here.
 
My personal favorites were "The Youthful Offender", "Foxing", and "Thinning the Air Around Them". I'd buy the album but im dirt poor right now.. Keep it up.

I dunno man. You guys are definitely better then the average band, but I think there's an extra 1% more somewhere that you need to find to make it sound great.
 
I can't really articulate it well, but there's too much dissonance between the instruments for my taste. I don't feel any one is complementing the other, except for in your interlude (Definitely the best track). That would be fine if the tension let up in a satisfying way, but it doesn't. That may have been an artistic decision, but there is a fine line you have to straddle between artistic merit and accessibility, particularly in indie. I think a strong melody would help bring it all together. In most of your songs it's difficult to even identify what the melody is. Basically what I'm saying is I'd like it to be a bit more conventional.
 
I've thought about this too hard. I wrote paragraphs more, but ultimately I think it's a bit pointless and nitpicky. Music is mostly the first impression, and mine was generally positive so I just left the first thing I wrote.

just to get this out of the way: on a production level, it sounded way better than i thought it would. maybe the drums could do with a little boost, tho. on a songwriting level, my only advice would be to disregard what others tell you lol. wouldn't you much rather a natural evolution of your band. 
 
also: nice site.

Pretty fucking great.

B-b-b-bump

I have to say, i really like it! I got a beatles/radiohead feel right off the bat, which i found pretty funny when your profile confirmed you like them.  
 
 The first song is a great opener.  I wish you would have done more with the second song, it was building up so nice and it just cut into the third song. As for the third song it has a good feel for it, as another user said you guys do sound a bit like radiohead, but much more friendly, which is good. I can actually imagine hearing you guys on the radio, if i were you id mail copies of your CD to different college radio stations with a letter explaining your band, might be a good market to open up in.  
 
I feel like there is something to be desired from the vocals though, its not that you guys are bad singers, it just sounds a little plain. For example on the third song if you used a reverb effect or something else to make you sound distant would be really cool, kind of like what you did on the ending harmonies in the last song. 
 
I was not a big fan of the fourth song. It just felt really weak and out of place. Its not a lost cause, but you just have to make it fit, kind of like "Im only sleeping" on The Beatles revolver. It is a bit different from everything else on the album, but it fits in perfectly. You just have to find a balance. To be honest it reminds me of The Foo Fighters " In Your Honor" album, they made the entire first disk all rock, and then the second disk all acoustic. Some of the songs worked, but it just didnt seem like them.  
 
Fifth song has to be my favorite, all of the instruments just mesh perfectly. The vocals start off a little weak, but i think you guys picked it up after awhile. If you can make all of your songs work this well you will be sitting pretty. 
 
Sixth song was also great, the drums had a great feel, and the effect you use on the (bass?) fits perfectly with everything. Your radiohead love comes out in this song, but it is different enough to set you apart. 
 
Overall I really like it all. You guys need a little bit of work, I feel like you just have a little wall that you need to break through, like there is just something missing or holding you back, but I think you are on the right track. I wish you the best of luck, and hope to hear more from you.

Have you thought about submitting this to some podcasts?  More than a few of them regularly feature indie music during breaks, outros, etc...

Hey I remember your last post where you posted your first EP. I really enjoyed it, so I will definitely check this out since I really enjoyed the first one!

Just curious.  Who did the album art for this?